Broken : Batman
by TerrorOfCrows
Summary: A dark twist on classic Batman, introducing new and old characters. A new assassin emerges in Gotham to teach Batman the ultimate lesson, and pushes him to his breaking point with a slew of crime and murder.


**BROKEN**

BATMAN

"What do you want?!" He was pushed to his knees, falling in front of the searchlight. "You will be hunted, and not just by the police!" He was shaking violently enough that his glasses fell from his face. "And he will find you, and you'll never see daylight again… he lives in the dark." Turning his head to the side, he finally caught a glimpse of his captor. His face was terribly disfigured. His mouth totally mutilated, his lips were gone, as if chewed or cut off. The cuts went further back, half the distance from where his lips should have ended, to his ears. The muscles in his cheeks were partially exposed from lack of facial tissue between his grotesque grin. A gun pressed to the back of Commissioner Gordon's head.

"I'm planning on it." The captor pulled the trigger, and left Gordon's lifeless body in front of the searchlight; his blood pooled around the bat-shaped metal fixture usually adorning the searchlight. As he made his way off the roof he casually tossed a playing card to the side.

Batman saw the silhouette in the sky. He rushed to the GCPD, worried over who had been shot; only one man had the key to the bat signal. He arrived shortly, with a stunned Nightwing standing over the body. "What happened? How did this happen?"

"I don't know… all that we have for evidence is this card."

Batman took the card from Nightwing and walked to the edge of the building. '_Get your head out of the clouds'._

"Bruce…" Nightwing spoke quietly, "He used your signal and mocked its usage with that card. This was for you. This isn't like anything we've come up against. Never, has anyone killed someone this high profile just to get your attention."

Batman looked back at Gordon's body, his forehead opened like a bloody and blooming flower. "First I thought this could have been the Riddler…" Batman looked back at Dick, "but I doubt that Nigma would be bold, or dumb enough, to execute Gordon." Bruce put the card into his belt and moved to go see his informant. "Dick, you should go to Barbara. I'll be there as soon as I can." Batman jumped from the roof of the GCPD and glided into the shadows of the alleyway across the street. Nightwing watched his outline fade into the darkness before walking down the fire escape.

"What am I going to tell her…?"

Batman emerged out of the shadows onto scaffolding overlooking the seedier section of Gotham. Looking down into suffering, the despair, the greed, and the hate, it wasn't hard to see the neon lights. Batman glided forward and landed on the roof of the Iceberg Lounge. Oswald Cobblepot would not take the wrap for a crime of this nature; he would more than likely point his finger at who really needed Batman's attention. He opened the door of the fire exit, after having disabled its alarm, and descended into the Penguin's Lair. He did not have much to fear this time. There was no way that Penguin didn't know what had happened already, and would not risk a fight at this time. He confidently walked into the club, passing by many of Cobblepot's "guests" and henchmen. He began to approach the doorway to the private lounge where the Penguin held most of his dealings when he was approached by a thug. "Got an appointment to see Mr. Cobblepot?" he said mockingly to Batman.

"Move aside."

"No appointment, no admittance." Batman grabbed the thug by his face and slammed his head into the door. The henchman fell to the ground in a crumpled mass, and Batman was immediately surrounded.

"Let him through you goddamned fools!" The Penguin gestured Batman into his private lounge. "Get back to work!" Cobblepot waddled to his chair and sat down. He and Batman stared at each other for minutes before anyone moved to start the conversation they each knew was to happen. Penguin removed his top hat revealing his receding hair, took off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief he pulled from his coat. "You already know it wasn't me. This much attention isn't good in my line of work."

"Who, Cobblepot?"

"What's in it for me to help you?"

"I won't drag you out of here by what's left of your hair."

"You couldn't do that! I've done nothing wrong, and you have no proof that I even did anything."

"I'm a vigilante remember? Besides, you're a career criminal who's had people murdered before. If I take you to GCPD and tell them you killed Gordon…"

Penguin leaned back in his chair hard. "I don't know his name. Some freak with a disfigured face, new in town, and obviously has no limits." He leaned towards Batman and raised his eyebrow. "He's starting a whole new game ya know." He lit a cigarette and took a slow drag. "If you can't get rid of this guy fast, it's open season on Gotham."

"You want him gone?" Batman inquired.

"If this bloke goes around offing high ranking officials left and right, people will think they can get away with anything. See, these other undesirables aren't as civilized and you and me. I know that what I do is a business, and when the employees do whatever the hell they want, profits are down. Similarly, if I don't have a handle on my guys and everyone else is going ape-shit, you're going to have a helluva time too." Penguin put out his cigarette. "But I do know who he was working for…"

"Tell me, now."

"Let's just say that this psycho has already sought legal counsel for what he's done."

"Harvey…"

"Perfect. Gordon finally got what he deserved."

"That wasn't right, we just executed him!"

"Look, we did what we had to do. That's what he gets for siding with some costume wearing, law breaking vigilante." Harvey Dent leaned against the window frame and looked out towards GCPD. "I know you still have a soft spot for him. Before all this, he was a good Commissioner and a better cop. But he broke the law."

"Are we any better? What have we done huh?! Everything that we've done! We are criminals." Harvey looked into the mirror hanging on the wall. "I should have never listened to you in the first place!" He threw a paperweight into the mirror.

"Look at me…" Harvey turned around and looked at another mirror hanging on the opposite wall. Two-Face flipped his lucky coin. "We agreed on everything that we've done. We are slowly bringing order back to Gotham again. Don't fail us now!" The door of the office opened. "Ah. We've been expecting you."

"Were you seen?"

Gordon's assassin sat down in a chair in the middle of the room. "I want my money."

Two-Face slowly circled him. "Answer his question."

The assassin sighed and removed his hat, straightening the brim out. "If I were followed, don't you think we'd have police all over this building? Both," the assassin looked at Harvey, "all three of us, would be in chains right now."

"Funny man huh? I guess that's why you have that fuckin' grin."

"Shut up. Pay the man so he can go about his business."

The assassin looked around the room. "I like this room. Would look better without all these mirrors hanging everywhere, but I guess with a face like yours, vanity is a concern."

The assassin chuckled and Two-Face grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. "Maybe you would like for us to give you some beauty secrets, or have you not seen your mouth?"

"Oh this?" the assassin pointed to his grin. "I did this myself, do you like it?"

Harvey looked at his yellowed teeth, and his scarred face. He could see the muscles in his cheeks as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. "Why would you do this to yourself?" he asked.

The assassin looked at the normal side of Harvey. "It's been proven that smiling makes you feel better. Now no matter how bad things get for me, I'll always feel good." Harvey opened his mouth in disgust. "Besides, smiles are contagious right?" The assassin chuckled, finding his explanation quite humorous.

"Freak!"

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you." He stared hard at the burnt half of Two-Face.

"Your money, it's in the bag over there okay. Just leave." He let go of the assassin.

"Thank you, Harvey." As he began to walk towards the money, Two-Face flipped his lucky coin and let it hit the ground. The assassin heard it hit the hardwood floor and turned around. The coin spun on the floor, and fell over, black side up. "Oh Harvey, you shouldn't have done that."

"It wasn't me, it was…"

"ME!" Two-Face pulled a pistol from his jacket and began firing. The assassin dove behind a desk, and Two-Face ran towards it firing. Just as he reached the desk, his clip emptied, and the assassin sprang from behind it and sank a knife into the right side of his chest. "Aaargh! God damn it!"

"Why couldn't we just let him go?!"

"Don't worry Harvey, I wouldn't kill you."

"You wouldn't?"

"No, no, no, no, of course not." Harvey smiled at him. "But I will have to teach both of you a lesson… punishing him, will unfortunately reflect upon you too. Just know that wasn't my intention Harvey." He smiled at Harvey before he drew another knife from his pocket. "It must be inconvenient having, two, faces…"

Batman jumped out of the batmobile and quickly rappelled to the top floor of Harvey's hideout. He busted the glass and rolled into the middle of the room with batarangs drawn. He was expecting resistance, but only found broken glass all over the room. Every mirror was busted, save one, that had another playing card stuck in its corner. "Harvey…? Are you in here?" Batman removed the card and looked over the room before reading its message. _'Harvey No-Face Dent.'_ Batman dropped the card, "Harvey!" Batman rushed across the room but stopped when he saw what lied on the other side of the desk. Harvey Dent was sprawled on the ground, in a puddle of blood with a blood soaked handkerchief on his face. Batman kneeled beside the body, and checked for his pulse; it was very weak, and judging from the amount of blood lost, Harvey would soon be gone. Batman carefully removed the handkerchief and looked at him. The burned half of his face was still there, but the other had been carved away meticulously. The musculature of his face was completely exposed, with hunks of fatty tissue still clinging to him in some areas. Harvey's eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Batman would have closed both of them, but the lack of an eyelid made it impossible. As he stood up to begin his search for the assassin, Harvey's eyes moved to him.

"It was me…" Batman knelt back down next to him and took his hand in his. "I hired him… to kill Gordon. I knew it wasn't right, but he made us do it…"

"Who is the assassin Harvey? Tell me."

"I don't know, I don't ask many questions of his crew. He said he'd do it for ten grand…"

"That's all? Cheap for an HVT…"

"I know. I know." Tears began to gather in Harvey's eyes. "I'm sorry for everything I've done, everything I let him convince me to do… how long you think… I'll get?"

Batman tightened his grip on his hand as Harvey's began to fade. His eyes unfocused and all movement stopped. Batman placed the handkerchief back on his face and retrieved the card. He removed the other from his belt for comparison. "Jokers."

"Barbara, I need you hack the street security cameras surrounding Harvey's hideout." Batman looked out of the window. It seemed that none of Two-Face's men were still in the area, and had abandoned their boss to his demise. "Barbara?" The other end of the line had been silent for minutes now. He changed frequencies to get in contact with Nightwing. "Dick, did you get to Barbara?"

He heard panting on the other side of the line, "Bruce, she caught me off guard and took off! I was trying to comfort her, and then she choked me out."

Batman glided down to the batmobile. "Any idea which way she went?"

"I've been following traces of her perfume, and she's been circling an area encompassing the hideouts of Penguin, Two-Face and Freeze."

"Harvey's dead. This assassin got him too, and left another card."

"Any motive?"

"He only asked for ten thousand."

"Bruce, you realize who's price that is right?"

"I do. Selina Kyle. But what could he want from her?"

"I don't know but it can't be good news, we should look for…" a thud on the other side of the receiver.

"Dick? Dick!" Batman quickly punched in a code to lock in on a transponder that Nightwing carried on his person at all times. "What is going on?!" he thought to himself as he sped off in Nightwing's direction.

Nightwing came to an hour later. He drowsily looked around the room he was in. It was an old abandoned warehouse in the docking bay of Gotham. Trying to move, he realized he was strapped to a propped up bedframe in front of a camera, with all of his gadgets removed. He struggled to get free, but he was tied by several ropes per each limb. "Now, now, don't be a bad little birdie." The assassin emerged from an adjoining room. "I guess little miss pussycat hit you harder than I thought, though thankfully long enough to get you ready for your premier." He gestured to the camera "Aren't you excited?"

"You won't get away with this! You have no idea who you're dealing with; Gordon, Two-Face, and now me… Batman will kill you!"

The assassin pulled up a fold out chair and sat in front of Nightwing. "Oh, he will huh? You're Batman hasn't killed any of the other killers in this town. Why would he start with me?" He began putting gloves back on his hands.

"They never dared to…"

"To kill someone like Gordon?" The assassin stood up and leaned in to Nightwing's face. "It was only a matter of time before Commissioner Gordon was retired. At least it was by someone like me who can teach Batman a lesson."

"What are you talking a-"

The assassin struck Nightwing hard in the nose, breaking it a causing blood to flow freely from both nostrils. He then placed a red, cloth sack on an unconscious Nightwing's head. "It's showtime."

Batman found Catwoman standing where Nightwing's last transmission came from. "What do you think you're doing Selina?"

"I'm just taking care of number one Bruce. It's a hard life for stray kitties." She brushed her polished claws down the front of Batman's suit.

Batman grabbed her hand and pushed her away violently. "You gave him Dick, Selina. Tell me where he took him, or I'll take you in unconscious."

"He gave me this for you."

"A smartphone?"

Catwoman walked to the edge of the building. "He said to turn it on at three thirty." She leaped from the building, but Batman quickly snared her leg and hung her from the edge.

"I'm taking you in this time; aiding and abetting a murderer… I thought you were smarter." Catwoman lashed her whip up at him, only to have him catch it and pull it from her.

"Damn you Bruce! What was I supposed to do? Not all of us are rich pricks like you!" He threw a batarang into her head and knocked her out. He looked at the Gotham clock tower. It was three minutes until he would make contact.

"You're probably wondering who I am; that doesn't matter. What does matter is what I've done thus far, and how you've dealt with criminals in the past. You think that you are in the right, leaving them to be prosecuted by law. What's wrong with that is that you haven't learned that it is ineffective. People respond to action, not to a slap on the wrist. Now," the assassin moved from in front of the camera, "I'm going to have to teach you that lesson." Nightwing was barely conscious at this point. Blood dripped from under his red hood and he groaned in pain, losing the sensation in his extremities. "You do recognize your partner, yes?" The assassin smiled and stepped nearer to Nightwing. "If you're cursing me, or warning me, just know that I can't hear you; it's just a camera." The assassin chuckled and looked to Nightwing.

"Bruce…"

"Oops. He said your secret identity! Don't worry about it, I'm not interested in who you really are. My interest is in what you're going to do. I'm pretty sure I know already, but maybe I'll be surprised." He walked to the camera and slanted it slightly upwards. "What you're looking at right now is a pipe that I have rigged to pour continuously once I open the valve. Care to guess what's in it?" The assassin chuckled again. "I'll give you a hint. It burns, has hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen in it, and is an acid!" He laughed more maniacally and stepped in front of the camera. "You have two options Batman: you can 'a', save Nightwing, whose locational address I'll give you shortly, or 'b', you can come to me." The assassin pressed his face into the camera and lowered his voice, "Kill me Batman. You know you want to." Batman was speechless, barely breathing, thoughts racing frantically. "To find Nightwing, head south through the Docks district, and he will be in the third docking bay on the right. I will be in the slums of Gotham, just north of the Iceberg Lounge. It is the same amount of time to get to either location from where you found Miss Kitty Cat. If you aren't here in ten minutes, I'll be gone. Don't disappointment me; learn. Tatty-Bye Batman." The assassin laughed again and pulled a lever releasing the acid onto Nightwing. Nightwing stiffened and screamed in agony as the acid began to eat through the hood and his flesh. The screams went higher in pitch as the assassin shot the camera.

Batman dropped the smartphone and glided back down to the batmobile and sped off in the direction of Gotham's Docks District. Nightwing's screams still echoed in his head. Dick Grayson, a flying Grayson, Robin, his partner, and best friend, targeted by a madman and disfigured if not crippled or killed. The idea of Dick being killed without him being able to do anything, to die alone, and leave him alone as well, sent shudders and anger through him. As Batman approached the third docking bay, he accelerated and smashed through the front door of building. He sprang from the batmobile and rushed to Nightwing who was now silent. Batman cut his binds and dragged him away from the acid on the ground. Quickly he pushed Nightwing off the docks into the water to dilute the acid on his body and dove in after him. Batman then pulled Nightwing to shore and looked at his face. It appeared melted, tight to his skull. Most of the flesh on his head was eaten by the acid, and even deteriorated a good bit of muscle tissue on his neck and chest. He could barely look at him, much less hold himself together. His vitals were still strong; he was a fighter. "Dick, can you hear me?" His eyelids moved and his mouth opened wider. "You're going to be okay, I'll take care of you. You'll be fine…" Bruce didn't know if he said it for him or himself.

"W-Why… Kill me…" Bruce carried him to the batmobile. "Let me…" Nightwing coughed, "Let me die." Inside the batmobile the acid burn smell was pungent and his wounds oozed pus. He looked over at Nightwing and tears fell from the cowl of Batman.

Having done what he could for Nightwing, which amounted to little more than wiping a basic solution on his wounds to neutralize the pH imbalance, applying an antibiotic cream, wrapping the wounds and starting an iv drip, Batman drove back to where he was held hostage. Batman had taken Nightwing so quickly that he didn't notice the camera, or the package underneath it. It was wrapped in purple paper with green and orange trim, along with another Joker card on top of it. '_So predictable. I hope you like your present Batman. PS: let the bird know it wasn't personal. See you soon._ Hastily Batman opened the package. Inside was a crudely drawn picture of an explosion. Seconds later the ground shook and a loud boom echoed in the building. He rushed outside and looked towards the smoke. Batman drove his now nearly destroyed batmobile towards the smoke, already knowing where it came from. He arrived at Gotham's city hall in flames. Thankfully, upon inspection, the bomb was only on the roof of the building, and no one was killed. Seconds after the last person was evacuated, two more bombs went off on opposite ends of Gotham; in the slums, and in the business district at a bank. Batman went to both locations to inspect the damage. No cards were left, no clues, only bodies of innocent people. His anger rose looking at the bodies, thinking of what happened to Nightwing, Gordon, Harvey, all these citizens, and it turned to rage. He started to walk in the direction of GCPD. Scared men, women and children watched from their homes and criminals from the shadows, as the Caped Crusader walked down the street, fists clenched.

Batman stood in front of the flood light on top of GCPD with the bat symbol back in its place. He was sure that this assassin would understand that he was calling him out. Taking out a small torch from his utility belt, he cut a message out of the bat signal and turned on light. 'COME TO ME'. Hours passed with no hint of the assassin's appearance. "What do you want!" Batman's voice echoed in the quiet of Gotham. Infuriated with no response he charged at the bat signal and began beating his fists on it repeatedly until the glass shattered. He stood there, looking at the broken symbol, blood dripping from his hands onto the bat silhouette. Everything he had fought for, bled for, was coming undone at the hands of one man. This man, this monster, only had to dare to do what no other had considered to on their own. One bullet, and Gotham was now in shambles. Batman turned off the flood light and walked down the fire escape. Slowly, he began to walk in the direction of the batcave. What was left of the Gotham Police Force that still had the sense of justice to stay regardless of consequences, watched as he walked as if he was defeated. Their hero, the dark knight, was losing hope, and had no leads as to where the assassin could be. His only hope would be if the assassin finally came to him for a final showdown.

Smoke was rising from Wayne Manor, but was not the source of the fire… Bruce moved as quickly as possible in his tired and mentally defeated condition. He first feared that his family's legacy would soon fall to ash, but traced the smoke into the batcave. Bruce looked around at the damage. Many of the consoles were smashed, including his backup transportation vehicles and the batwing. The extra bat suits he had were in flames, along with the Robin costumes. Batman fought through the smoke, unable to find anything that was salvageable. How did the assassin find the batcave? "Dick! Dick are you in here!" Batman coughed constantly as he searched the cave, but found no one. He stumbled outside the batmobile exit and fell to the ground. He heard chuckling and looked up at the assassin.

"First your batsignal, and now a smoke signal," the assassin chuckled again, "you wanted my attention, now you've got it."

Batman coughed again, "Nightwing…"

"Were you burning down your lair in anger I wonder?"

"What did you do with Nightwing!" Batman sprang at the assassin from the ground only to be kneed in the face by him. Batman lied on his back with blood seeping out of his nose, "Why did you do this?!"

"Me? Me? You did this yourself! You should've let your friend die, and killed me, thus preventing all those explosions." The assassin kicked him in the face as hard as he could, nearly knocking Batman unconscious. "What? A little smoke, a few explosions and some anger and frustration, and you can't even fight correctly anymore?" The assassin spit on him and kicked him in his stomach. He knelt down next to the breathless Batman, and pulled the cowl off of his head and threw it to the side. Batman turned his head to look at the grotesque grinning face staring back at him. "As I said before Batman, I don't care who you are." He slammed his face down into the dirt and stood up again. The assassin pulled the gun he used to kill Gordon out of his coat, and removed the silencer before pointing it at Batman. "I had hoped you would have learned what you needed to do, but you failed."

"What was I supposed to learn from you! You're a murderer!"

The assassin turned his head to the side and chuckled again, smiling as big as he could. "Goodbye, Batman." A single shot rang out.

The assassin crumpled to the ground and clutched his stomach. Even with the soon to be fatal wound he still managed to chuckle. Nightwing trudged out of the darkness of the surrounding woods holding a 9mm pistol, and stood facing Batman. "Dick, you're alive!" Another shot pierced the silence and Batman fell back to the ground, holding his shoulder. "Dick!"

"You were wrong, Bruce."

"What are you doing!"

"I am doing what is needed to be done! That man," Nightwing pointed to the laughing assassin, "was right. What we did, changed nothing. We created an environment where psychotic freaks like him could do whatever they wanted, without retribution."

The assassin coughed up blood while clearing his throat, "I was teaching Batman…" he coughed blood again, "but you learned the lesson."

Nightwing shot the assassin in the leg evoking a scream that soon turned into laughter again. "You were never the person that Gotham really needed Bruce. You, we, did well enough under your rules, but all we did was delay crime. Neither of us could be the real hero." He pushed Batman over with his foot, and then pressed it into his bullet wound.

"Aaargh! This is not… what I taught you!"

"No, but it is what I've learned. Look at me Bruce! Look at my face! You did this to me, by not being strong enough, by not being the unsung hero, and by leading me down the path you took, the wrong path." Nightwing put the gun into a holster around his waist, walked over to the assassin and drew a knife before leaning down next to him. "No one, will ever, do what you've done tonight. I will bring down the criminals in this city, my city, starting with you. I may be a criminal now, but at least that gives me the freedom to do what I have to. I suppose I should thank you though, since you've woken me up from Batman's delusion. You have made me into a real vigilante; one who can, and will do what is necessary." Nightwing slit the assassin's throat, and listened as the air gurgled from the gash. "And my name is the Raptor." Nightwing, now the Raptor, stood next to the assassin as he finally passed away, still trying to laugh, with his grin as wide as it would go.

"The Raptor? Listen to yourself Dick…" Batman rose to his knees, woozy from blood loss. "Don't do this, don't let him win. You can still come back, Nightwing is still in there…"

The Raptor shot four rounds into Batman's chest, causing him to fall backwards to the ground. Breaths came quickly and shallow for Batman. "My name is the RAPTOR!" He stood over Batman with the gun now pointed at his head.

"D-Dick… I'm…"

"You're time is over Bruce. You scared the criminals of Gotham. Imagine the terror they'll feel knowing that someone managed to kill you. And if they don't change after this, I'll kill them too." He shot his mentor, Bruce Wayne, Batman, in the head, and walked away from the scene as if the two never knew each other. He re-holstered his pistol, and drew a flare gun. As he was walking, he shot a flare into the air, threw it aside, and disappeared into the night.

The next day's newspaper was full of headlines. The city was all but destroyed by numerous explosions, the death of a crime boss, the murder of the Commissioner, the finding of the dead 'terrorist' who caused it all, and the murder of Bruce Wayne now known as Batman. Numerous other criminals, none of attributing renown, were found dead as well, later determined to have been felled after Batman, but by the same gunman. A week later, funerals were held for Commissioner Gordon and Bruce Wayne on the same day, but both Barbara Gordon, the commissioner's daughter, and Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's named benefactor, were not present. Barbara had been missing since the night her father was murdered, and Dick simply refused going, due to injury he claimed to have received from the fires that spread into Wayne Manor. Dick Grayson sent an intermediary to negotiate his inheritance from Bruce Wayne, which included his fortune and what was left of Wayne Manor. As he officially had his own apartment, he was not attached to the realization of Bruce being Batman, and was not suspect as an accomplice. He remained a recluse during the day, and only went out at night, as the Raptor. After having built his own 'Batcave' into a newly remodeled Wayne Manor as the seat of his vigilante operations, he did still seek out Barbara Gordon. Over the course of the following month, the Raptor had greatly reduced the amount of organized crime in Gotham, as most had now come to realize that they were hunted by a new and more lethal adversary. Police did not condone the actions of the Raptor, and were ordered to shoot him on sight, but never sought him out as his main territory was limited to the poorer, crime ridden and dark underbelly of Gotham. The Raptor would bring a new era to Gotham City.


End file.
